Pocono News Section

Olyphant Mine Fire Work Nears Completion

Olyphant Mine Fire Work Nears Completion - Friday, January 11, 2008 at 1:26PM EST

Reported by: David DeCosmo
Friday, Jan 11, 2008 @01:26pm EST
OLYPHANT, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- Work to dig a containment trench around an underground mine fire in Olyphant is expected to be completed by early next month.

The multi-million dollar project is being funded by the Federal Office of Surface Mining and the State Department of Environmental Protection.

The fire was discovered in September of 2004. It has been burning and growing in size ever since.

Borough Councilman Jerry Tully was on the fire crew who found the fire burning on a mountainside on the south side of the community.

He says he is pleased with the work to prevent future spread of the blaze but unhappy that there are no plans to actually extinguish the fire.

A spokesman for O.S.M. says the plan is to contain the mine fire and allow it to burn itself out.

Tully says that will allow harmful fumes to go into the air in the region for as long as the fire continues to burn.

Tully says that could be more than 40 years.